Adorazione del Bambino
Bramantino (ca. 1465-1530)
Additional titles
Adoration of the Child
- Pinacoteca Ambrosiana (Milano)
[Museum inv. no.: 84]
Item location
Description
In the background a group of four wingless musician angels playing musical instruments (lira da braccio, lute, tromba marina), all depicted without strings. It is assumed that the group of worshippers include Apollo (at the very left who is the only figure that does not watch at the Child but at the woman in the foreground on the right), identified by a laurel wreath and a long torch (the latter often depicted in Greek and Roman artefact probably known to the artist). According to the museums information “this Apollo […] symbolizes the end of paganism. However, the way he looks at the woman standing in the foreground on the right, who is quite probably a sibyl, and who is in turn looking at the Child, appears to be an invitation to consider the classical age as a good and necessary preparation for the age of Christ. This was a common idea already in the Middle Ages, and it is no coincidence that it is a classical-style arch that forms the backdrop for the scene. The work also contains an important Mariological aspect, for close observation of the geometry of the composition shows how the Virgin and Child are perfectly inscribed within an isosceles triangle, thus symbolizing a particular theological doctrine, which is that of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, according to which the Mother of God was preserved from original sin. This might also be confirmed by two further aspects: one is the presence of Saint Francis (identified by his stigmata) and Saint Bernardino of Siena, for it is known that the Franciscans maintained this theological aspect in their preaching. The other is the presence of Salome behind the Madonna, next to Joseph. She is identified by her shrivelled hand, which she received as a midwife for not believing in the virgin birth, as we are told in the apocryphal Gospel of James […]. The painless delivery of Mary is a sign that she is free from the curse on Eve for having committed the original sin (“in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children”, according to the Book of Genesis). Lastly, it should be noted how the decoration on the capital on the pilaster of the arch recalls that of the capitals on the pilasters in the church of Santa Maria presso San Satiro, which was built by Bramante, and thus a clear tribute by Bramantino to his illustrious master.” (Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, https://www.ambrosiana.it/en/opere/the-adoration, last accessed: 11.03.2024)People as subjects
St. Mary (Blessed Virgin) (Non-musician/dancer)St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) (Non-musician/dancer)
Jesus Christ (Non-musician/dancer)
Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)
Lira da braccio [3181]Lute [3394]
Trumpet marine [3519]
RIdIM images
Bibliographic references
Giovanni Agosti et al. (ed.). Bramantino a Milano. Exhibition catalog, Castello Sforzesca Milano (Milan: Officina Libraria, 2012).Mauro Natale (ed.). Bramantino, Exhibition catalog, Museo Cantonale d’Arte Lugano (Milan: Skira, 2014).
Wilhelm Suida. Bramante pittore e Bramantino (Milan: Ceschina, 1953).
Gian Alberto Dell'Acqua, and Germano Mulazzani. L'opera completa di Bramantino e Bramante pittore (Milan: Rizzoli, 1978).
Mauro Natale. Bramantino: L'Arte Nuova del Rinascimento Lombardo (Milan: Skira, 2015).
Marco Navoni, and Alberto Rocca. Pinacoteca Ambrosiana (Milan: Skira, 2023), p. 82-83.